Beyond the Glass
by TheOperaticSquirrel
Summary: Shawn inserts himself into the Guster's regular trip to visit family up north. While there, he discovers something amazing. OneShot. Little to no previous knowledge necessary.


Shawn peered through the glasses he had drawn in the window mist to get a better view. He had to consciously keep his jaw from dropping, not wanting to fog up his vision again.

"Whoa."

"What is it?" No matter how hard he looked Gus couldn't find the source of his Shawn's speechlessness. He had been trying for years to get his friend to shut up and wanted to take notes on the cause.

"It- it's amazing. I've never seen anything like it before." He couldn't tear his gaze from the window long enough to spare his best friend a glance.

"_What's_ amazing? I don't see anything."

"It's right _there_."

"_Where_?"

"_Everywhere_!"

Gus's face adopted an almost paranoid countenance as his eyes frantically scanned his surroundings. On an ordinary day Shawn would have made fun of his friend and played up the fact that he was nervous, but this was no ordinary day. No, today Shawn hardly noticed there was anyone else in the car, much less not-so-subtle eye movements. His attention was solely devoted to what lay just beyond the thin glass barrier.

He had spent his whole life in Santa Barbara and, while it wasn't unusual this far north, it was back home. Of course he had heard of it, but here, outside of pictures, it was completely different. How could Gus, how could anyone, keep from staring in awe?

Why were they still driving? Why wouldn't they pull over and step outside and marvel at the sight? Shawn couldn't wait anymore. He rolled down the window and stuck his hand through, reaching.

"Shawn! What are you doing? It's freezing!"

Shawn had figured that out just fine on his own. With a quick intake of breath, he withdrew his hand back into the safety of the car and rolled the window back up, not wanting to waste anymore precious warmth. He pulled on his gloves and adjusted his hat.

Gus gave his friend a look, but decided not to comment.

* * *

They had barely hit the breaks when Shawn went flying through the door. His face had changed from its awestruck expression to a smirk Gus was all too familiar with.

Gus supposed that he probably should have warned him about the ice. He definitely should have refrained from feeling so pleased upon hearing the dull _thump_, but what could he say? It was refreshing to see his ever-so-confident friend out of his element.

Laughing and jumping from the car, Gus held onto the hope that he would be able to catch a glimpse of his friend before he managed to pull himself out of the snow bank beside the driveway.

Instead of Shawn sprawled flat on his face, Gus was met with the sight of something white just before he felt the impact.

"You- you hit me," Gus stuttered out, going cross-eyed trying to get a look at the snow clinging to his nose. "On the face!"

His so-called friend just looked up at him and laughed at his incredulous look, hurriedly trying to form a snowball. Then it was Gus's turn to laugh.

"What's the matter?" he asked, scooping up a handful of snow. "Looks like your first day on the job."

Shawn glared up at his smug looking friend, not liking his expression in the very least.

"But don't worry." Gus tossed his perfectly rounded snowball into the air and caught it with one hand. "It's not like I've been coming here my whole life."

Shawn's eyes widened in realization. In all his ten years, Shawn had never lost. But it was different here in this far off place with weird looking trees and subzero temperatures. Here, where he had somehow ended up, no, begged to go. Here, he was out of his league. Just what exactly had he gotten himself into when he stuck into the back of their car?

While Gus would never tire of taunting his best friend, he knew this couldn't last forever. With careful aim, he launched the projectile and nearly knocked Shawn off his feet.

It was on.

* * *

Though neither could recall exactly how it happened, they had somehow managed to travel halfway down the block in no time.

Seeing Gus take on this poor, struggling stranger, a few of the local kids came rushing out, still strapping on their snow gear as they stumbled through doorways. Seemingly half the town had joined the fray, some siding with their old pal Gus while others tried to help the new kid. None took the teams too seriously, though, never missing the opportunity to nail an unsuspecting neighbor in the back of the head.

For all the people out and about, not one noticed the older boy crouched on the street sign, marveling at all the fun that could result from a single well placed snowball.

* * *

That night, Shawn collapsed into his bed exhausted. But as fast as his head hit the pillow, he was back up again, running to the window. He didn't know there could be snow storms so big so late in the year.

"Gus! Gus!" he yelled, running over to shake his friend awake. "We've got to go back outside! What if it all melts by morning?!"

Not nearly as enthusiastic as his eager friend, Gus merely rolled over and grumbled something inarticulate into his pillow.

Once his friend started snoring through his shakes, Shawn decided to give up.

He really did try to go back to bed, to rest up for the coming hard day of play, but every time he laid down, his eyes would be drawn toward the window of their shared room.

Did it really snow like this every March? Shawn had never tried to look for Easter eggs in the snow before. He couldn't help but wonder if it made them harder or easier to find. Still, snow on Easter sounded just plain ridiculous. What if it was ridiculous? What if the snow really did all melt by tomorrow and this was his last opportunity to see the snow? There's no way he could sleep at a time like this, no matter how tired.

As if it had read his mind, the wind blew the window open, allowing a flurry of snowflakes to enter the room.

Shawn watched in awe as his own personal blizzard took place around him. Around and around, the snowflakes swirled endlessly, yet Shawn never felt the cold. He knew this couldn't be normal, not even up north, but Shawn never felt afraid, not even a little. No, his entire soul, his entire being, was completely consumed by glee. Never before had Shawn felt so… so happy. Not that he was a normally depressed child, but this felt different somehow. Somehow, this _was_ different.

An excited laugh escaped through his lips.

* * *

**I wrote this a little over five years ago while watching it snow through the window during study hall. I thought about how there were people out there who actually liked the snow and figured Shawn would be one of those crazy few. I thought I had posted this and by the time I noticed that I hadn't my brother had broken the computer with all my stories and ideas. I just came across the written copy and decided better late than never, although, rereading it all these years later it doesn't seem nearly as great as I thought it was when I wrote it. Oh well.**


End file.
